The Week Ahead 01
Good morning!
It's already March, and it's Monday. BUT, that's not meant to be discouraging. You just better start digging around for those tax documents soon... Seriously, don't wait until the last minute like you're cramming for an economics exam.
Anyway, this post is the first of a series. Woohoo! Well, let's get a few weeks in before we start patting ourselves on the back. I realized that while I'm (slowly) becoming a better photographer and growing professionally, I haven't been engaging nearly enough with the community around me. This isn't another blog post about 10 photography tips and tricks, or 6 things you need in your camera bag this year. Yes, I'm going to talk some photography, but that's not the overall point.
Big, long term goals are important, at least that's what I believe. However, I've realized I also need to focus to the present and what I can do now, not just what I'm striving for 6 months or 10 years down the road. In order to help maintain this focus, I'm starting this series of posts about what I'm up to, current events, industry updates, other creatives doing cool stuff, music, sports, finance, etc... Hopefully, this will not only help me stay on "the path" and maintain a degree of focus, but hopefully it will also prove to be somewhat useful to others as well. The beginning of the week can be overwhelming and stressful at times if you allow it to be. I hope this post and the others to follow, help alleviate some of those negative feelings and provide a more positive outlook on the future.
Like I mentioned before, this is to engage with the community around me, so, feel free to ask questions and drop a comment if you want to. I just ask to not be rude to others or I'll toss you out without warning like a college baseball umpire would. Look for these to drop on Monday mornings. Let's take a look at the week ahead.
What I'm doing and looking forward to:
I've been thinking a lot about what type of work I really want to create. I realized, for awhile now, I've been spread too thin and too wide, and really need to intently focus on one or two things in regards to my work. That being said, I'm excited for what's in store and look forward to sharing the process.
The wife and I have been watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix. We are also re-reading the Harry Potter series together. Just finished the third book, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. I almost always read non-fiction, but I also recently finished All Quiet on the Western Front on audiobook, but plan to start something new this weekend while traveling. If you have a good suggestion for a book, I'd love to hear about it!
One of my best friends is having his bachelor party this weekend and man, I can't wait to get to New Orleans. Can't have a bad time with a hurricane from Lafitte's in hand. Unless maybe it's your 8th one. Going to try my best to not eat my weight in beignets.
Photography news:
This isn't exactly new news, but Canon has been coming in hot recently with some new equipment. Most notable (to me) the mirrorless EOS R5, and for all you spare no expense sport professionals, the EOS-1D X - Mark III. Not to mention the new RF lenses for the mirrorless cameras rumored to be on the way. Don't turn your nose up at the Rebel lineup either. The Canon Rebel T8i has pretty impressive specs for an entry level DSLR. It's hardly even entry level, IMO. Would be solid for the advanced amateur, but if it were me, I'd look around at other options and shop the used market. Canon also announced a new cloud based service for keeping your camera's images synced with your devices. I certainly appreciate the idea, but I'll be interested to see how it performs once it is finally available.
TikTok:
Yeah, yeah, I'm on TikTok. While it can possibly be a huge distraction, there are some hilarious videos on there. There's also decent photography content and behind the scenes type of videos as well. I'm posting more photography related videos, so go check it out if you're on there.
Find me there @nickcody_photo
The Mint 400:
The Mint 400 is this coming weekend. Like I mentioned, I'll be preoccupied in NOLA, so I won't be in Las Vegas at the race this year. Love seeing the photos from this offroad race and all those crazy drivers and motorcycle riders sending it across the desert. I'm hoping to make it out there next year and capture some of the action.
F1 Drive to Survive Season 2 on Netflix:
I thought the previous season was done extremely well. Seems like the audience and sport is growing. I've watched a couple episodes so far, but I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the new season. Highly recommend. If you don't know the drama and whole story behind Rich Energy and the Haas team, it's bizarre and amazing. Do a couple Google searches and try to find some of the tweets that were sent.
Evernote:
Just a random thought, but one of my favorite tools on my phone is Evernote. I use reminders and sometimes the notes app on my Iphone, but it's super easy to access and sync notes I created on my phone from Evernote to my PC and vice versa. The basic account is free and allows you to sync across two devices.
Quote I've been thinking about:
"Nature does nothing in vain, and more is in vain, when less will serve; for Nature is pleased with simplicity, and affects not the pomp of superfluous causes." - Isaac Newton
Thanks for reading. I hope you all have a great week!
-Nick